Tagged: Oakland Athletics

First of all Happy Fourth to you all, as we all celebrate our countries birthday. Sadly, it was not a happy day for the Sox. The Oakland A’s completed a 3-game sweep of the Sox. And now on to the news from today.

After last nights loss to the A’s, the Sox did exactly what I said they wouldn’t. That was option Clayton Mortensen to AAA and recalled Justin Germano. He’s pitching fairly well in Pawtucket in 16 starts. With Morales working out of the pen today and scheduled to start in the series against the Yankees, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Germano take on the Yankees at some point.

Speaking of the devil, one of our own has joined the dark side. Darnell McDonald was claimed of waivers by the New York Yankees. He’ll join the team tomorrow for the series against the Red Sox. This move makes almost no sense as the Yankees already have a plethora outfielders who have all played better than McDonald. He may be a slight upgrade defensively to some guys, but not enough to want to play him over anyone. He also adds a little speed to the bench too, but not enough where they’d be compelled to DFA a reliever and overcrowd the bench. So what I’m getting at is this isn’t a baseball move, it’s just a big F U to the Red Sox from Brian Cashman. I wish Darnell the best, but I just hope he doesn’t help the Yankees too much.

Yesterday the Red Sox acquired Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A’s. The Sox gave up Josh Reddick, Miles Head, and Raul Alcantara for Ryan Sweeney and Andrew Bailey. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of Bailey, I like this deal. Reddick won’t be much more than a fourth outfielder despite what many fans believe. Head and Alcantara are both at least 3 years away from playing in the big leauges. Also Head isn’t projected to be much. He’s an undersized out of shape first baseman. Alcantara, is expected to be the real prize. He could become a top level reliever one day.
The reason I like this deal so much is not because of Bailey, but Sweeney. Ryan Sweeney is nothing more than an average corner outfielder, but what makes him special is power to the opposite field. He’s a terrible pull hitter, but he becomes great when he hits out to left field. He’s a lot like Adrian Gonzalez except Gonzalez has the ability to be a pull hitter. Sweeney will thrive at Fenway and is a fantastic throw in. Bailey on the other hand is a great closer. They’re questions about his health, but even when he’s not healthy he puts up great numbers. Overall this is great deal because of what they gave up for the two of them.

Why it Would Work: It’s no secret the Sox need pitching and Youk can be used as trade bait. Gonzalez is a great , young lefty who could turn out to be a superstar. He was an All-Star this year and looks like he will be for years to come. The Sox only have one lefty starter in the rotation so adding another wouldn’t hurt. Another reason would be that an unhealthy Youk can be more harm than help so trading him now while he still has a high value might be the best idea for the Sox. Billy Beane loves Youk, so the second his name is mentioned he’ll listen to anything. Also dumping Andrew Miller wouldn’t be a bad thing, plus he helps fill the spot left be Gonzalez so the A’s still have a serviceable lefty to start aside from Brett Anderson. Also the prospect would just be a throw in hit or miss guy.

Why it Wouldn’t Work: The A’s are struggling to get a winning team in Oakland. Their pitching is what has been carrying them. Would the A’s be willing to give up their best pitcher for some offence? They’ve been hurting at the corner infield spots by a series of failed prospects and bad trades. Youk could fill that spot, but are the A’s willing to sacrifice that much for an injury prone, early thirty’s corner infielder?

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After a tumultuous season for Red Sox pitching, pitching coach Curt Young has left the Sox to return to the A’s as their pitching coach. Young had done a fantastic job with the young arms in Oakland, but when faced with the ch allege of coaching aging veterans, he flopped. Without John Farrell there the pitching for Boston was in disarray. I don’t want to say that the pitching was solely his fault, but he did play a major role. He couldn’t motivate his pitchers who lost focus and let everything slip away. I think Young is better suited in Oakland where all of his success (as a player and coach) came from. He knows the pitchers well, and I think he’ll do a much better job next year than he did this year, but that’s not too hard.

The Red Sox are close to acquiring A’s starting pitcher Rich Harden for first baseman Lars Anderson and a player to be named later. This deal is pending a physical due to Harden’s poor health. If Harden’s able to stay healthy this is a great pick up for the Sox.

Carlos Quentin and Matt Thornton might have to switch dugouts for Sunday’s series finale. The Red Sox are rumored to be making a strong push to acquire the outfielder and lefty reliever from the White Sox. Quentin would solve the problem in right and Thornton would give the Red Sox a solid second lefty reliever out of the ‘pen. The White Sox have put a high price on Quentin, but it’s expected to come down as they try to work out a deal. The Red Sox would be able to hit him anywhere 3-7 and he’ll produce. He’s got really good power, but occasionally can go on power slumps. Thornton is a top notch lefty who the White Sox really liked going into the season but have “fallen out of love” with him. The Red Sox are also discussing a deal with Oakland for Rich Harden and Josh Willingham or Coco Crisp.